Machine for harvesting peanuts



Dec. 12, 1950 J. o. TURNER MACHINE FOR HARVESTING PEANUTS 5 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed May 12, 1947 ililiiillililitilili w m m m .m m or a w w W mm on9 em 2 W 09 u 3 ow om w NS vn Dec. 12, 1950 J. o. TURNER MACHINE FORHARVESTING PEANUTS Filed My 12, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Jesse O.Turner Dec. 12, 1950 J. o. TURNER MACHINE FOR HARVESTING PEANUTS 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 12, 1947 m r m e I m 0 A 0 o w a H Q ow 6 m8 J.

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Patented Dec. 12, 1950 UNITED STAT E Sv PATENT. O F Fl C E MACHINE FORJHARVESTING PEANUTS Jesse 10. Turner, Denison,.1ex.-

Application--May'=-'12} 1947; Serial No= 747','534

4=Claims.- (01. 55134) This invention: relates generally to: peanutharvesters and more particularly to aimachine; ofthistype in which 'th'ediggenis mounted onthe tractor used to' draw the remainingportions ofthe machine, which portions are.mounted on a wheeled frame;

A primary ob'j act of i this "invention is to pro;

vide means whereby peanuts may be'expeditiously:

harvested,- the digger being used-to force thevirres and'the'peanutsoutof .the ground and to elevate the same onto-1 aplatform"; from which theyare picked up and "conveyed upwardly-and.

rearwardly, being simultaneously; agitated by an.

air: blast to assist i in iremoving ,earth :clinging; to

th'e llvines; and finally tox'deposit these vin'esuin a windrow':

Anotherr'objectof thisin-vention is to harvest the crop andncleanithefearth from the vines, without removingv :anz'zundulygreatproportion of the peanuts from the'vines,xthus facilitatingthesubsequent operation of picking, up the harvested vines iandvthreshing the same.

Stillfanother object of this invention is te-pro vide i asmachine whichiswell .adaptedfor use:

underwarying conditions, beingadjustable'as to height; andv thedelivery. chute'havingflmeans in! corporatedttherewith in order that.one end. ofthe-i chute .may be raised. when the :m-achi-ne'-. is

be-ing,turned at'the-end ofa row and when the machine isbeingtransported from:v one. scene.

of operation to another.-

Still another object of thisinvention is to-'combine :with apeanutharvester anblower to provide for general. agitation: of the-vines andto urgethe same upwardly and rearwardly on the above mentioned conveyor.

Still: another object of this invention: is to providenovel and improvedmeans for transferring,-

in: the accompanying;

Figure liisaartopnplan view of the assembled invention, thediggerzwwhich is i secured i tothe tractor being shownin:.operative.;position rat the frontend: of thespl'atform :upon which:then-vinesare "placed after .beingdugrbythe said digger;..

Figure 2 liszaiside elevatinnal View ofthis vention 'withzthesaid'diggeraremovedii Figure 3 iss'another side .elevational. view ofthis machineythe view :being takensfromrth'e sides-oi"themachineopposite tothat fromwhichaathewievw shown-in Figure=2 istaken;

Figure :4- is .a :fragmentaryi detail; view oftath'e' uppersend 50f theaconveyor iandicontiguousspore tions'1of' structure;,the;vi'ew;beingtaken omthe;

line 4+4" imFi-gureiiz and."

Figure 5 is a :DBISDBOfiVGiViGW .of theirotary cyle inder' used to"pick. fupzthe .vines..from theplate form and deliver" the sameontozth'econveyors.

Similar. charactersw of: reference. designate similar or identical partsand,.portions..throughev out the several views and throughouttheispeciefication.

Referring- ,nowto: thesewdrawings in -detail,.,the diggehjgeneradlyrepresented by the-numerallfl; iscomprisedrot two -similari portionseach having. aaplow portion I2 and aplurality of 'tangssl lrs The plowportions l2. aresharpened .attheefoh ward edges :andinay-be-generallyrectangular, in shape;-;andthe i-angular disposition. thereof rep;-resented in Figur 1. causesithezvinestoxbe de-.- flectedsinwardly;towardthe center line:of-; the machine. The tangs. Ht extend upwardly; andrearwardly; in similar arcs; and the. rear termia nalsof .these tangs:areecolinear and adjacent ato: the :forward side ofthe.-:platform..l6;It should; be: carefully. noted thatithewdiggers:will; ordi-. narily bemounted on'th-eirame. of. the tractor vwhichisusecl: to draw the peanutharvestenthat is;.to draw-that portion c-fflthe'peanut harvester. lWhiChis: mounted on the wheeledrframe I 8, sinceforpurp oseszof thisdisclosure, thedi'ggers must be considered. .aszanintegral. part of.thisainven'e tion.v Any;.suitab-le imeans maybe used to mountthese-diggers 1on1 thersaidztractor, asimpleisun-w porting bar!!!:being; represented in. Figure;1,,to indicate'one-meth'od ofdirectlyattachingitherplow' portions 1 2 ,to.:the tractor.

Thewheeled frame: I 8-is generally-.rectangular having. aforwardu-pright member 22 and arear. upright memberr24, a brace for thisrear upright member, asillustratedat 26, and .theabovermene' tionedplatform portion I6 which is-rigidlyv see.- cured: to thelower end of anextending=portiom23 of the :front upright memberfl.

Aaconveyor housing, 28 x of trough-1 form: is ,diu'

agonally supported on the above described frame, with the rear of saidhousing being secured to the upper portion of the rear upright member24, and the forward end of the housing being secured adjacent the lowerend of the forward upright member 22. Front wheels 30 are freelyrotatably mounted in forks 32 which are securely attached to an axlemember as. A hand control lever 36 is rigidly secured to this axlemember 3a and a pawl and ratchet device 36 is secured to the frame It,in order to facilitate the adjustment and locking of this axle in anyone of a variety of positions, thus allowing for the vertical adjustmentof the fore part of the frame with reference to the height thereof abovethe level of the ground. This adjustability of the frame is required inorder thatthe platform i6 may be brought into proper relationship withthe tangs M.

The rear wheels ii are rigidly secured to a rotatable axle 32 which ismounted in suitable bearings t l, and a sprocket wheel 46 is rigidlysecured to the axle 52. This sprocket wheel may be duplicated on theopposite side of the machine and a pair of sprocket wheels alignedtherewith are provided on a shaft 38 secured in bearings 56 in theplates 52 on the upper end of the rear upright member 25, as bestillustrated in Figure 3. Gear wheels and 58 are mounted on the shaft 48and the shaft 58, respectively, the. latter shaft being also secured tothe rear upright member 24 and thegears 5 3 and 56 being in mesh,'whileother sprocket wheels and 62 are secured to the shafts 58 and 64,respectively, the latter shaft being freely rotatably mounted onsprocket members 56 secured to the lower end of the forward uprightmember 22, as best indicated in Figure 2. The first mentioned sprocketWheels are connected by a drive sprocket chain 68 and the last mentionedsprocket wheels 68 and 62 are connected by two similar endless chains itto and between which a plurality of parallel spaced bars 12 are secured,thus comprising What will be hereinafter referred to as the elevatorconveyor Hi. It should be noted that th upper portion of this conveyor74 travels within the beforementioned housing 28.

The above described structure provides a power driven axle or shaft 64at the forward end of the machine, and power is derived therefrom todrive the rotary cylinder, generally indicated by the numeral 76 inFigur 5. Pairs of spocket wheels are secured to the shaft 6t and'to theshaft 18 of the rotary cylinder and sprocket chains 80 and entrainedthereon. The rotary cylinder 75 is terminally mounted in brackets 82which are secured on the platform i6, and this cylinder is comprised oftwo end discs 8-; and a plurality of bars 86 peripherally secured tothese discs and provided with a plurality of spaced radially disposedmembers 88, of tooth character and preferably provided with rightangular or blunt ends. It will also be noted that the platform I3 isslotted to coact with the teeth 83 of the rotary cylinder. This platform19 is also provided with fingers 95 having depending forward ends 92,these fingers being aligned with the said slots, that is, on either sideof each slot, and adapted to coact with the teeth of said rotarycylinder and with the tangs it of the diggers, to guide the plants ontothe platform and thence onto the conveyor.

An electric motor is mounted on a suitable bracket 96 secured to theforward upright 22 and. at a level above the forward end of theconveyor,

and the shaft of this motor is rigidly secured to a fan 98, enclosedwithin an annular baffle or shield I68. The function of this fan is toagitate the vines as they are elevated and conveyed toward the rear ofthe machine, in order to more effectively free the vines from the earthclinging thereto. Obviously, other means may be used to power the fan,although it is preferred to provide a suitable generator on the tractorused to draw the harvester machine and to connect this generator withflexible leads to the electric motor 95.

At the rear end of the machine, a delivery chute, generally indicated bythe numeral I02 is provided to transfer the vines transversely of themachine and to deposit the same in a windrow as the machine is'forwardlypropelled. This delivery chute H32 includes a trough member I04 and anendless chain conveyor Hill which may be very similar to the conveyor 14described above. The conveyor N36 is actuated by sprocket wheels securedto the shaft 38 which is propelled by the beveled gear H8 enmeshed withthe coacting beveled gear H2 secured to one end of the shaft 58, as bestshown in Figure 1.

In order that this delivery chute may be raised at one end, a cable H3is terminally secured to the chute portion I64 and is entrained throughpulleys H4 and lit secured at either side of the top end of the rearuprights 24, extending forwardly to the pulley H8 secured to the forwardupright 22, and terminally secured to the reel I20 which is providedwith a hand crank 122. The

delivery chute is pivotally mounted on the shaft E98 and this shaft issupported at the outer end thereof by a bracket E24 secured to the rearupright member 24. Another similar bracket I26 limits the downwardmovement of the chute.

The operation of this invention will be clearly understood upon aconsideration of the foregoing discussion of the mechanical detailsthereof, taken in connectionwith the above recitation of the objectssought to be achieved by this inven-,

tion, but it may be added, in recapitulation, that the plants are firstdug by the diggers It, raised by the tangs 44 onto the platform 15 wherethese plants are picked up by the rotary cylinder 16 and fed onto theconveyor M which carries them rearwardly and upwardly toward thetransversely disposed delivery chute at the rear of the machine. Itshould be carefully noted that this machine is not a threshing machineand thatthe action of the conveyor and the fan 98 is not to separate thepods from the vines but rather to merely dislodge the earth from thesevinesand to eventually deposit the vines in a windrow.

Obviously, many minor variations may be made in this invention withoutdeparture from the spirit and scope thereof, and though there has beendescribed a particular embodiment of this invention, this application isnot limited to this particular embodiment but it is desired toinclude inthe scope of this invention the construction, combination andarrangement of parts and portions substantially as set forth in theappended claims.

What I claim as novel and improved is:

l. A peanut harvester adapted to be drawn by a tractor and including adigger mounted on a tractor, a wheeled frame with a receiving platformimmediatel behind said digger, an elevator conveyor on said frame behindsaid platform, means on said frame to pick up vines and peanuts fromsaid platform and to deliver-the same onto said conveyo1',-means toactuate said elevator conveyor, an inclined delivery chute extendingtransversely of said elevator conveyor at the rear end thereof, and ablower mounted on said frame adjacent the lower forward end of saidelevator conveyor to agitate the vines and thus to assist in removingearth clinging thereto.

2. A peanut harvester adapted to be drawn by a tractor and including adigger mounted on a tractor, a wheeled frame with a receiving platformimmediately behind said digger, an elevator conveyor on said framebehind said platform, means on said frame to pick up vines and peanutsfrom said platform and to deliver the same onto said conveyor, means toactuate said elevator conveyor, an inclined delivery chute extendingtransversely of said elevator conveyor at the rear end thereof, and ablower mounted on said frame adjacent the lower forward end of saidelevator conveyor to agitate the vines and thus to assist in removingearth clinging thereto, said platform including a plurality of spacedparallel fingers and said means to pick up vines and peanuts including arotary cylinder having radially extending teeth and means to rotate saidcylinder.

3. A peanut harvester adapted to be drawn by a tractor and including adigger mounted on a tractor, a wheeled frame with a receiving platformimmediately behind said digger, an elevator conveyor on said framebehind said platform, means on said frame to pick up vines and peanutsfrom said platform and to deliver the same onto said conveyor, means toactuate said elevator conveyor, an inclined delivery chute extendingtransversely of said elevator conveyor at the rear end thereof, and ablower mounted on said frame adjacent the lower forward end of saidelevator conveyor to agitate the vines and thus to assist in removingearth clinging thereto, said chute having a chain conveyor associatedtherewith.

4. A peanut harvester adapted to be drawn by a tractor and including adigger mounted on a tractor, a wheeled frame with a receiving platformimmediately behind said digger, an elevator conveyor on said framebehind said platform, means on said frame to pick up vines and peanutsfrom said platform and to deliver the same onto said conveyor, means toactuate said elevator conveyor, an inclined delivery chute extendingtransversely of said elevator conveyor at the rear end thereof, and ablower mounted on said frame adjacent the lower forward end of saidelevator conveyor to agitate the vines and thus to assist in removingearth clinging thereto, said wheeled frame having means to adjust theheight of said platform above the ground.

JESSE O. TURNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 451,329 Larson Apr. 28, 18911,288,541 Fant Dec. 24, 1918 2,095,428 Batie Oct. 12, 1937 2,297,065McLendon Sept. 29, 1942 2,381,172 Lundberg Aug. '7, 1945 2,383,506McClenny Aug. 28, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 118,295Australia Mar. 30, 1944

